Advertisement

Cameron: Jimmy Carr 'morally wrong' for avoiding tax

Jimmy Carr has been using a tax avoidance scheme named K2, which shelters more than £3 million a year from tax Photo: Ian West/PA Wire

Prime Minister David Cameron told ITV News the tax arrangements of comedian Jimmy Carr were "morally wrong" and he said the government would crack down on "these very dodgy schemes" used by high earners to deprive the public purse of an estimated £4.5 billion per year.

The comments come after a Times (£) investigation identified him as one of many celebrities using an offshore account to avoid paying tax. Jimmy Carr addressed the issue last night saying during a gig and reminded his audience his actions were perfectly legal:

Some of these schemes [...] I just think this is completely wrong. People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows, right, they buy the tickets, he is taking the money from one of those tickets and putting it into some very dodgy tax avoiding scheme

There had been claims yesterday that the comedian used an offshore account so that he only paid around 1% tax.